Weinstein sentenced to 23 years for sexual assaults

Harvey Weinstein was sentenced on Wednesday to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault, a sight the disgraced Hollywood mogul's multitude of accusers thought they would never see.

Weinstein, who has been accused of violating scores of women, was convicted last month of raping a once-aspiring actress in a New York City hotel room in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on former TV and film production assistant Mimi Haleyi at his apartment in 2006.

He faced a maximum of 29 years in prison.

Both women confronting Weinstein again in court on Wednesday after their testimony helped seal his conviction at the landmark #MeToo trial.

"It takes a very special kind of evil to exploit connections to leverage rape, said the 2013 rape accuser.

Rape is not just one moment of penetration. It is forever, added the woman, who recalled a moment during the trial when she left the witness stand in tears and then could be heard screaming from an adjacent room.

The day my screams were heard from the witness room was the day my voice came back to its full power, she said.

Asked later about her reaction after the sentence, she wiped her eyes, raised her arm and nodded her head.

The Associated Press has a policy of not naming people who have been sexually assaulted without their consent. It is withholding the rape accuser's name because it is not clear whether she wishes to be identified.

Weinstein, who has maintained that any sexual activity was consensual, showed no visible reaction to the sentence. Beforehand, he broke his courtroom silence with a rambling plea for mercy in which he said his empathy has grown since his downfall.

He told the court he felt remorse for this situation but said he was perplexed by the case and the #MeToo climate in which it unfolded.

Thousands of men are losing due process. I'm worried about this country, he said, arguing that men are being accused of things that none of us understood.

I'm totally confused. I think men are confused about these issues, he said in a calm but creaking voice, adding that he had fond memories of his accusers.

Looking back during the trial at emails they exchanged, he said, he thought they had a good friendship: I had wonderful times with these people."